Laurel moving closer to speed camera installation

City Council could define camera-eligible school zones by end of September

In a preliminary step that could lead to the arrival of speed cameras in the near future, the Laurel City Council introduced a resolution to establish school zones at its Monday meeting.

Roads within the proposed school zones, defined as areas within a half-mile radius of any Laurel school, would be eligible for speed cameras under a state law that became effective in October 2009.

In Prince George's County, speed cameras within school zones photograph drivers traveling 12 mph or more over the posted speed limit between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. For the first 30 days after camera installation, violators receive warnings; thereafter, they are fined $40.

The resolution introduced at Monday's meeting will see a second public hearing and possible vote at the Sept. 27 City Council meeting.

"This is a preliminary step that sets up the framework for having speed cameras if they want to have them," said Paul McCullagh, director of the city's department of public works. The council would have to separately approve the procurement of speed cameras, he said.

Laurel Deputy Police Chief Richard McLaughlin said he gets complaints from Laurel residents about the issue of speeding almost every other day.

"It's pretty much epidemic throughout the entire city," McLaughlin said. He said the city is cosidering procuring two or three portable speed cameras, which can be moved from location to location as deemed necessary. The idea is that the cameras will reduce speed and the severity of accidets should they occur, McLaughlin said.

McCullagh said the resolution to establish school zones will pass because it is uncontroversial. He said he expects the council will then probably authorize speed cameras, though that will not come up until at least October.

"Whether we do the second phase or not, the first phase is probably still an appropriate thing to do," McCullagh said.

Though municipalities in Prince George's must receive the county's permission to use speed cameras on county-owned roads, all of the streets where Laurel would likely use speed cameras are city-owned, McCullagh said. The city would have to place street signs within the school zones alerting motorists to speed camera enforcement before the cameras could be installed, he said.

At a Sept. 8 work session, city attorney Robert Manzi said the school zones would include many streets where it would make little sense to install speed cameras.

"You're not going to put a speed camera in a cul-de-sac," Manzi said, adding that streets with stop signs at every corner would also be unlikely candidates for cameras.

The city would have flexibility in choosing exactly where to place the cameras, which would be movable, McCullagh said.

"We get complaints [about speeding] from the residents on some areas of Montgomery Street," McCullagh said. Parts of Van Dusen Road and Cherry Lane would also likely be monitored, he said.